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Saturday, 9 January 2016

FUNDING 2016 BUDGET: DR. OKECHUKWU ENELAMAH ON TRIAL

Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment

In the event
there still is a shred of doubt, in any quarter, as regards the extent of
damage dwindling price of crude oil has done to our economy, the fine details
of the N6.1 trillion budget being proposed by the Federal Government have
knocked it off. Proceeds from oil accounted for 47.5 per cent of the 2015
budget whilst the projection for 2016 limits oil revenue contribution to the
fiscal year to 18.6 per cent.

The
ambitious 2016 budget proposal also aims at, among other things, jerking up
capital expenditure from the 16 per cent it was pegged at in the 2015 budget to
30 per cent – which is about N1.6 trillion

However, by
the first half of December 2015, Nigeria’s external reserve had shrunken to
$29.6 billion – the lowest in five months. Earlier, industrial production had
declined at a slower 0.13 per cent in the third quarter as against the –3.31
per cent it was in second quarter. In the same penultimate quarter,
manufacturing and construction sectors fell by 1.75 per cent and 0.11 per cent
respectively. How can this trend be reversed? Yet, Federal Government is
optimistic that with the combined effort of oil revenues, import duties, taxes,
recoveries from looted funds and sundry revenue sources, it will be able to set
the economy on a path of competitiveness and sustainable prosperity.

Drastic
reduction in recurrent expenditure, significant increase in capital vote, as
well as acceleration of infrastructural development and inclusive growth are by
no means less critical to the economic diversification aspiration of the
Federal Government, as envisaged in the 2016 budget estimate.

The Federal
Government sure has fantastic plans for the 2016 fiscal year. The challenge
therein is how to navigate projected revenue and actual revenue to a point of
equilibrium within the prevailing fluid economic environment. This is where the
interventionist role of Federal Ministry
of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) becomes imperative. Given the
current economic outlook, the task of attaining a convergence of budget
estimates and national earnings rests on Federal Government’s economic team,
with FMITI as a key driver.

When the
chips are down, the ability of the ministry to bolster international trade,
attract foreign direct investments (FDIs) and guarantee favourable balance of
payment will go a long way in ensuring that our embattled economy does not get
stranded in the 2016 fiscal cruise.

Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, the Honourable Minister, Federal Ministry
of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) is one man no one should envy. Just
as he found the flexibility to migrate from his medical profession to
accounting and financial analysis, in both of which he has since chartered,
Nigerians are eager to see him transmute to a ‘miracle worker.’

Will Dr.
Enelamah for instance, recognise the draft National
Code of Corporate Governance (NCCG) as a national emergency and speedily
direct Financial Reporting Council of
Nigeria (FRN) to treat accordingly? What are his plans for Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (NIPC)?
Will he take urgent steps to reinvigorate Nigeria
Export Promotion Council (NEPC)? Granted he had successfully chased and
attracted investors’ funds in the past as a corporate player, but how does he
intend to manage the highly probable skepticism of prospective investors as a
result of the noisy revelations as pertains to the depth of rot inherited by
the present government? What are his counter public relations strategies, as
intending investors are likely to err on the side of caution by sitting on
their vaults pending the conclusion of the purge?

Will the
honourable minister critically evaluate the performance of Bank of Industry (BOI), so as to be certain there is no more room
for improvement? What is his blueprint on how to relocate the tourism sector,
in collaboration with Nigerian Tourism
Development Corporation (NTDC), from the realm of leisure to the realm of
business and investment?

Similarly,
Nigerians think SMEDAN can do better – does he agree? What kind of synergistic
relationship is his ministry going to cultivate with Federal Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Budget and National Planning,
Ministry of Solid Minerals and the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for harmony in policy implementation? Will
FMITI, under Dr. Enelamah’s watch, find the presence of mind to ensure that the
Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)
leaves no stone unturned in getting corporations and businesses to comply, in
full, with extant laws, for the overall well-being of our business community
and international competitiveness?

What is
Enelamah’s strategy for seducing investors the world over and retaining them?
What trade and investment Ace Cards has he got up his sleeve to contend with
the projected N2 trillion budget deficit in the 2016 fiscal year? All in all,
what are his prescriptions for the parts of our economy that are under the
weather? With the peculiar circumstance, and expressed broad objectives of the
2016 budget proposal, the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment
is impliedly on trial. (Source: Guardian)

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